Metaphysical Dictionary

The Michael Teachings


 


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Ra:


Rain Forest:


Ramtha:  is the name of a reputed entity whom JZ Knight says she channels. According to Knight, Ramtha was a Lemurian warrior who fought the Atlanteans over 35,000 years ago.


Raps or rapping: are percussive sounds of varying intensity without visible, known or normal agency. These knockings have always accompanied poltergeist disturbances, even before the commencement of the modern spiritualistic movement. Thus they were observed in the case of the "Drummer of Tedworth," the "Cock Lane Ghost," and other disturbances of the kind, and also in the presence of various somnambulists, such as the Seeress of Pervorst. With the "Rochester Rappings" -- the famous outbreak at Hydesville in 1848, to which may be directly traced the beginning of modern Spiritualism -- the phenomenon took on a new importance, rapidly increased to an epidemic, remained throughout the earlier stages of the movement the chief mode of communication with the spirits.  Though it was afterwards supplanted to some extent by more elaborate and complicated phenomena, it continued to occupy a place of importance among the manifestations of the séance room.  

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Rasputin:


Raymond: Towards the end of 1916 a great sensation was made not only in occult but in general circles by the publication by Sir Oliver Lodge of a memoir upon his son, the late Lieutenant Raymond Lodge, who was killed near Ypres in September, 1915. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which contains a history of the brief life of the subject of the memoir. The second part details numerous records of sittings both in the company of mediums and at the table by Sir Oliver Lodge and members of his family, and it is claimed that in these many evidences of the personal survival of his son were obtained, that the whole trend of the messages was eloquent of his personality and that although if the evidential matter were taken apart for examination single isolated proofs would not be deemed conclusive, yet when taken in a body it provides evidential material of an important nature. There is certainly ground for this contention and it must be admitted that proofs of identity are more valuable when experienced by those who were familiar with the subject during his earthly career. But to those who have not had this opportunity the balance of the evidence seems meager and it is notable that in this especial case most of the tests of real value broke down when put into practice. The third part of the book deals with the scientific material relating to the life after death which is reviewed and summarized in a spirit of great fairness, although a natural bias towards belief in immortality is not a little obvious. In this the work differs from that by Sir William Barrett, with its wholly scientific attitude and its greater natural ability to discern dialectical weaknesses, but it is far from being unscientific in character. On the other hand Sir Oliver Lodge's work is inspired throughout by an enthusiasm which if not entirely absent in that of Sir William Barrett, is certainly not conspicuous in that writer's treatise. Sir Oliver's enthusiasm is, indeed, that of a Columbus or a Galileo.


Rede: The original "Rede" was a poem of unknown origin (sometimes attributed to Gardner initiate Doreen Valiente). Today "rede" most commonly refers to the sum of the Wiccan code of conduct expressed in the poem: "And if it harm none, do as ye will."


Reflexology: Reflexology aims to relieve stress or treat health conditions through the application of pressure to specific points or areas of the feet. The underlying idea of reflexology is that areas of the feet correspond to (and affect) other parts of the body. In some cases, pressure may also be applied to the hands or ears.

Techniques similar to reflexology have been used for thousands of years in Egypt, China and other areas. In the early 20th century, an American physician named William Fitzgerald suggested that the foot could be "mapped" to other areas of the body to diagnose or treat medical conditions. He divided the body into 10 zones and labeled the parts of the foot that he believed controlled each zone. He proposed that gentle pressure on a particular area of the foot could generate relief in the targeted zone. This process was originally called zone therapy.

In the 1930s, Eunice Ingham, a nurse and physiotherapist, further developed these maps to include specific reflex points. At that time, zone therapy was renamed reflexology. Modern reflexologists in the United States often learn Ingham's method or a similar technique developed by the reflexologist Laura Norman.

Reflexology charts include pictures of the feet with diagrams of corresponding internal organs or parts of the body. The right side of the body is believed to be reflected in the right foot, and the left side, in the left foot. Different health care providers, such as massage therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, physical therapists or nurses, may use reflexology. 
 

Reiki: ("RAY-kee") is a Japanese word representing Universal Life Energy. Reiki is based on the belief that when spiritual energy is channeled through a Reiki practitioner, the patient's spirit is healed, which in turn heals the physical body.

Reiki is a therapy that the practitioner delivers through the hands, with intent to raise the amount of ki in and around the client, heal pathways for ki, and reduce negative energies. Reiki can be practiced in several ways: on its own, along with other CAM therapies, and along with conventional medical treatments.

When a practitioner performs Reiki, usually the client sits or lies comfortably, fully clothed. The practitioner places her hands on or slightly above the client's body, using 12 to 15 different hand positions, with the intent to transmit ki. The hands are positioned with the palms down, fingers and thumbs extended. Each hand position is held until the practitioner feels that the flow of energy has slowed or stopped, typically about 2 to 5 minutes. Some Reiki practitioners believe they are helped by "spirit guides" for proper flow of the energy. 

Practitioners perform Reiki most often in offices, hospitals, clinics, and private homes. The practitioner and client determine the number of sessions together. Typically, the practitioner delivers at least four sessions of 30 to 90 minutes each.

Depending on their level of training, people can perform Reiki on themselves as well as on people who are either close by or at some distance away (even at a long distance). In the latter case, Reiki is a type of "distant healing."
 


Reincarnation: The idea that our soul lives multiple lifetimes, gaining experience through them. Reincarnation is found in both Buddhist and Hindu doctrines, as well as the Michael teachings, Theosophy, Spiritism, and other New Age systems. 

[See Reincarnation]


Reincarnation in Theosophy: An extremely important part of Theosophical theory, and, while it is commonly regarded as a succession of lives, the proper aspect in which to regard it is as one single, invisible life, the various manifestations in the flesh being merely small portions of the whole. The Monad, the Divine Spark, the Ego - whose individuality remains the same throughout the whole course of reincarnation -- is truly a denizen of the three higher worlds, the spiritual, the intuitional, and the higher mental, but in order to further its growth  and the widening of its experience and knowledge, it is necessary that it should descend into the worlds of denser matter, the lower mental, the actual, and the physical, and take back with it to the higher worlds what it has learned in these. Since it is impossible to progress far during one manifestation, it must return again and again to the lower worlds. The theory which underlies reincarnation is entirely different from that of eternal reward and eternal punishment which underlies, say, the teachings of Christianity. Every individual will eventually attain perfection though some take longer to do so than others. The laws of his progress, the laws which govern reincarnation, are those of evolution and of karma. Evolution decrees that all shall attain perfection and that by developing to the utmost their latent powers and qualities, and each manifestation in the lower worlds is but one short journey nearer the\goal. Those who realize this law shorten he journey by their own efforts while those who do not realize it and so assist its working, of course lengthen the journey. Karma decrees that effects good or bad, follow him who was their cause. Hence, what a man has done in one manifestation, he must be benefited by or suffer for in another. It may be possible that his actions should be immediately effective, but each is stored up and sooner or later will bear fruit. It may be asked how one long life in the lower world should not suffice instead of a multitude of manifestations, but this is explicable by the fact that the dense matter which is the vehicle of these bodies, becomes after a time of progress, incapable of further alteration to suit the developing monad's needs and must accordingly be laid aide for a new body. After physical death, man passes first to the astral world, then to the heaven portion of the mental world, and in this latter world most of his time is spent except when he descends into the denser worlds to garner fresh experience and knowledge for his further development in preparation for passage into the still higher sphere. In the heaven world these experiences and this knowledge are woven together into the texture of his nature. In those who have not progressed far on the journey of evolution, the manifestations in the lower worlds are comparatively frequent, but with passage of time ad development, these manifestations become rarer and more time is spent in the heaven world, ill, at last, the great process of reincarnation draws to an end, and the pilgrims enter the Path which leads to perfection. 


Remote Viewing:


Reptillians:


Rescue Circles: of spiritualists, formed for the purpose of "waking up" the dead and freeing them from their earthbound state, are based on the idea that earthbound spirits are too gross to be reached by the influence of higher spirits from the other side. They stand closer to the material plane than to the spiritual. In many cases they do not realize that they are dead at all and live in a state of bewilderment. If they are enlightened on their true condition and prayers are offered for them they will progress to a higher existence.

The beginning of rescue circles may be traced to the Shaker communities of America. The appearance of a tribe of Indian controls aroused the impression that the Shakers were to teach and proselytize them. The first such circles were held by the wife of Col. Danskin of Baltimore and other ladies. The best work was performed by a circle in Buffalo between 1875 and 1900 and by Dr. Carl Wickland and his wife. The medium in the first case was Marcia M. Swain and Leander Fischer, a professor of music in Buffalo. The circle consisted of Daniel E. Bailey and his wife, the mother of the professor and Mrs. Aline M. Eggleston, the stenographer. The identity of the spirit brought to be "waked up" was often verified but as the search after such proofs entailed considerable labor and time it was, after a while, given up.


Retrograde: The term applied to an apparent backward motion in the Zodiac of certain planets when decreasing in longitude as viewed from the Earth. It can be compared to the effect of a slow-moving train as viewed from another train traveling parallel to it but at a more rapid rate, wherein the slower train appears to be moving backwards. However, in the case of the celestial bodies it is not a matter of their actual speed or travel, but of the rate at which they change their angular relationship.


Rhapsodomancy: Divination by means of opening the works of a poet at hazard and reading the verse which first presented itself. 


Rising Sign: The Sign or the subdivision of the Sign which was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth, is deemed to exercise a strong influence upon the personality and physical appearance of the native. This is subject to modification by virtue of concurrent aspects. The placement of the Lord of the Ascendant, of the Moon, or of the planet aspecting the ascending degree, are also deemed to accent the particular subdivision of the Rising Sun in which the ascending degree falls. Interpretations by numerous authorities are available by Signs, by Decans and by demi-Decans - both incorrectly termed Faces by some authorities. In applying any of the interpretations attached to a Rising Sign it should be remembered that the presence of a planet in the Ascendant will always modify the influence of the Sign itself.


Ritual magick: sometimes referred to as "Ceremonial" or "High" magic, is a form of theurgic spiritual practice performed with the intent to achieve a personal spiritual transformation, or union with God, through specially designed rituals.


Roberts, Jane:


Rochester Rappings: The outbreak of rappings which occurred in Hydesville, near Rochester, N.Y., in 1848, and which is popularly known as the Rochester Rappings, is of peculiar importance, not because of its intrinsic superiority to any other poltergeistic disturbance, but because it inaugurates the movement of Modern Spiritualism. Hydesville is a small village in Arcadia, Wayne County, N.Y., and there, in 1848, there lived one John D. Fox, with his wife and two young daughters, Margaretta, aged fifteen, and Kate, aged twelve. Their house was a small wooden structure previously tenanted by one Michael Weekman, who afterwards avowed that he had frequently been disturbed by knockings and other strange sounds in the Hydesville house. Towards the end of March, 1848, the Fox family were much disturbed by mysterious rappings, and on the evening of the 31st they went to bed early, hoping to get some undisturbed sleep. But the rappings broke out even more vigorously than they had done on the previous occasions, and Mrs. Fox, much alarmed and excited when the raps manifested signs of intelligence, decided to call in her neighbors to witness the phenomenon.

The neighbors heard the raps as distinctly as did the Foxes themselves. When the sounds had indicated that they were directed by some sort of intelligence it was no difficult matter to get into communication with the unseen. Questions were asked by the " sitters " of this informal "séance" and if the answer were in the affirmative, raps were heard, if in the negative, the silence remained unbroken. By this means the knocker indicated that he was a spirit, the spirit of a peddler who had been murdered for his money by a former resident in the house. It also answered correctly other questions put to it, relating to the ages of those present and other particulars concerning persons who lived in the neighborhood. In the few days immediately following hundreds of people made their way to Hydesville to witness the marvel. Fox's married son, David, who lived about two miles from his father's house, has left a statement to the effect that the Fox family, following the directions of the raps, which indicated that the peddler was buried in the cellar, had begun to dig therein early in April, but were stopped by water. Later, however, hair, bones, and teeth were found in the cellar. Vague rumors were afloat that a peddler had visited the village one winter, had been seen in the kitchen of the house afterwards tenanted by the Foxes, and had mysteriously disappeared, without fulfilling his promise to the villagers to return next day. But of real evidence there was not a scrap, whether for the murder or for the existence of the peddlar, particulars of whose life were furnished by the raps. Soon after these happenings Kate Fox went to Auburn, and Margaretta to Rochester, N.Y., where lived her married sister, Mrs. Fish (formerly Mrs. Underbill), and at both places outbreaks of rappings occurred. New mediums sprang up, circles were formed, and soon Spiritualism was fairly started on its career.

(See Spiritualism


Rodegast, (Pat):


Role: From the Michael teachings, one of the seven types of essences: server, priest, artisan, sage, warrior, king, and scholar. Everyone has a particular role. It defines the individual's way of being or fundamental style, not his worldly position.


Rolfing: Deep tissue massage (also called structural integration).


Roman (Sanaya): A popular trance channel. Known for her series of books by Orin.


Rome (Occultism in): Magical practice was rife amongst the Romans. Magic was the motive power of their worship which was simply an organized system of magical rites for communal ends. It was the basis of their mode of thought and outlook upon the world, it entered into every moment and action of their daily life, it affected their laws and customs. This ingrained tendency instead of diminishing, developed to an enormous extent, into a great system of superstition, and in the later years led to a frenzy for strange gods, borrowed from all countries.


Rose: From the earliest times the rose has been an emblem of silence. Eros, in the Greek mythology, presents a rose to the god of silence, and to this day sub rosa, or "under the rose," means the keeping of a secret. Roses were used in very early times as a potent ingredient in love philters. In Greece it was customary to leave bequests for the maintenance of rose gardens, a custom which has come down to recent times. Rose gardens were common during the middle ages. According to Indian mythology, one of the wives of Vishnu was found in a rose. In Rome it was the custom to bless the rose on a certain Sunday, called Rose Sunday. The custom of blessing the golden rose came into vogue about the eleventh century. The golden rose thus consecrated was given to princes as a mark of the Roman Pontiffs' favour. In the east it is still believed that the first rose was generated by a tear of the prophet Mohammed, and it is farther believed that on a certain day in the year the rose has a heart of gold. In the west of Scotland if a white rose bloomed in autumn it was a token of an early marriage. The red rose, it was said, would not bloom over a grave. If a young girl had several lovers, and wished to know which of them would be her husband, she would take a rose leaf for each of her sweethearts, and naming each leaf after the name of one of her lovers, she would watch them till one after another they sank, and the last to sink would be her future husband. Rose leaves thrown upon a fire gave good luck. If a rose bush were pruned on St. John's eve, it would bloom again in the autumn. Superstitions respecting the rose are more numerous in England than in Scotland.


Rosicrucians: The idea of a Rosicrucian Brotherhood has probably aroused more interest in the popular mind than that of any other secret society of kindred nature: but that such a brotherhood ever existed is still doubted by some authorities. The very name of Rosicrucian seems to have exercised a spell upon people of an imaginative nature for nearly two hundred and fifty years, and a great deal of romantic fiction has clustered around the fraternity: such as for example Lord Lytton's romance of Zanoni; Shelley's novel St. Irvyne the Rosierueian, Harrison Ainsworth's Auriol, and similar works.

The name Rosicrucian is utilized by mystics to some extent as the equivalent of magus, but in its more specific application it was the title of a member of a suppositions society which arose in the late sixteenth century. There are several theories regarding the derivation of the name. The most commonly accepted appears to be that it was derived from the appellation of the supposed founder, Christian Rosenkreuze ; but as his history has been proved to be wholly fabulous, this theory must fall to the ground. Mosheim, the historian, gave it as his opinion that the name was formed from the Latin words ros, dew, crux a cross ; on the assumption that the alchemical dew of the philosophers was the most powerful dissolvent of gold, while the cross was equivalent to light. It is more probable that the name Rosierueian is derived from rose, a rose, and crux a cross, and we find that the general symbol of the supposed order was a rose crucified in the centre of a cross.   


Roswell:


Runes: An ancient alphabet of Teutonic origin, used for purposes of divination and magic. [See Runes]


Rupa: is the physical body, the most gross of the seven principles of which personality consists. See Seven Principles. Theosophy. 


Ryerson, (Kevin): A noted trance channel. Famous for his appearance in Shirtley Maclaine's book and move, "Out on a Limb."



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